A NEW-LOOK Rhys Williams takes the field against England today hoping he is not weighed down by extra pounds.

A NEW-LOOK Rhys Williams takes the field against England today hoping he is not weighed down by extra pounds.

The Wales full-back has been on a special diet designed to add bulk and the result has been startling.

He has managed to put on 9lb in a matter of weeks, despite the national squad being in intensive training, and should find out at the Millennium Stadium if it is a help or a hindrance.

"It is a lot more difficult to run when you have put this amount of weight on during a short space of time," confessed the 23-year-old strike runner.

"During the endurance runs I have had to work a lot harder. But Andrew Hore (Wales fitness trainer) and I are happy with the results now we have given my body a bit of time to adjust."

Williams was criticised by pundits during the summer tour of Australia and New Zealand but intends to play his natural attacking game against England - if given the space to exploit.

He admits having been too self-analytical and critical in the past but accepts, "You are always looking to improve your game.

"I have been working on everything. I don't think you can ever stop doing that."

The Cardiff Blues star spent last weekend in London - nearly all the Wales first team was given time off while the second string were losing 35-12 to Ireland in Dublin.

"It is never nice watching an international; it would have been nice to have actually gone over there," he said. "It was a good performance by the boys but probably not the result we wanted. We want to win.

"It is Wales versus England and every single Welshman wants to play in this game. I am no different."

Williams says the Welsh squad needs the "extra taps on the back" that success would bring.

"Hopefully, it would help us turn the corner. It would be great to go to the World Cup with a couple of wins," he said.

"That would be a huge boost to our confidence and relieve the pressure on our first game - against Canada - in Australia."

Despite having become record breakers for the wrong reason, Williams insists "confidence is pretty good" in the camp.

And he stressed, "Spirit is unbelievable. I know it is a cliche but the atmosphere in the squad is like that of a club side.

"Confidence is always there for games. In every international we have played well for 40-60 minutes; we have shown in patches what we can do."